Broken finger- what is our experience of heal times and straightness expectation

I fell at the Morvelo cyclocross on the muddy cobbles and broke my LH little finger.

A week later and the pain has subsided, but the frustration of not being able to ride is growing.

I guess we must have had a lot of similar injuries and I wondered how long it is sensible to leave it before going out on the bike again (I am sure longer is better, but want to get out as soon as is sensible)

Depends how broken! I broke mine, and was riding the road bike (in pain) a few days later with it taped. Took a couple of weeks before it stopped hurting, a bit longer off road. Mine never straightened either.

Broke my ring finger (wedding ring off, thankfully) on the first of a four day holiday. Ibuprofen helped a lot

It depends how it breaks tho - and if ligament damage has occurred. 2 days later I damaged the ligaments on my right thumb in a similar incident but again, ibuprofen worked wonders. It didn't stop me riding at all but it was quite sore for a few weeks.

Healed up nicely - it was the plate between the finger bones that broke as I went otb...splayed hands do not help you land, no matter how instinctive you are. Took another four months for my wedding ring to go back on again though but it's fine now (9 months on).

The only way you can tell now (other than the slightly knobbly knuckle) is that it won't stretch out properly and the middle bone seems thicker.

Has it been pinned or anything? I smashed a knuckle on that same finger and they were unable to get it fixed so it would still bend. I had the choice of it being fixed straight or slightly bent. Chose the latter so that finger already curls round handlebars

I was out riding the road bike about a week or so after the op, though I couldn't wear gloves due to the pin. By the time the pin was out I was able to ride a MTB (gently) though that finger still gets painful in really cold weather and it still looks slightly swollen compared to the RH one.

I broke the knuckle on my left-hand index finger in a few places playing football - a fingertip save and it bent backwards at the knuckle (ie. the wrong way). I didn't think anything of it, so went to the pub and just sat it in a pint of iced water. I then went into work the next day, when my horrified colleagues suggested that I went to hospital to get the now giant black-and-purple sack looked at.

The consultant said that the break wasn't really a problem, but unfortunately the process of the knuckle bending back the wrong way also completely tore the tough ligament that runs underneath the knuckle, which took a lot more work to fix.

It took about 6 weeks of painful physio, and I still can't bend it fully and it hurts on cold days (arthritis to come, no doubt), but it's more or less fine. Certainly doesn't stop me from riding. (No more than my complete lack of talent, anyway. )

First ride today 3 weeks after breaking my index finger. Not a full break, but a chip next to top knuckle.
It was ok but I still can't put too much pressure on it - still bruised.

The nurse said it would take 4 weeks to fix and told me not to splint it. Have you been to your walk-in clinic to get it x-rayed and get proper advice? Surely that's the best thing to do?

Personally I don't think it's worth risking permanent injury or inconvenience for the sake of a few weeks riding... you don't know what the long term implications will be if you don't let it recover properly.

Edit: realised you posted while I was typing. I would take doc's advice personally

I smashed one of the joints of my right-hand finger into about six bits on a dry ski slope. It now has a titanium plate and is a bit wonky but it bends pretty well.

I was given exercises to do for about eight weeks which really worked.

I think I was back riding on the road in two or three weeks after the op but it took a bit longer to go back off-road. I was being cautious because I had a skiing holiday that I didn't want to screw up.